Editing Slough (section)

==Cultural references==
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|image1=Observatory House, Slough.jpg
|caption1=[[Observatory House]] was given its name because it is the site where [[astronomer]] [[William Herschel]] lived, and erected his great 40-foot telescope.
|image2=The Office buillding in Slough.jpg
|caption2=Crossbow House features in the opening sequences and some filming for the [[BBC]] comedy ''[[The Office (UK TV series)|The Office]]''.
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* 1597: In Act IV, Scene 5<ref>[http://william-shakespeare.classic-literature.co.uk/the-merry-wiues-of-windsor/ebook-page-32.asp William Shakespeare – The Merry Wiues of Windsor Page 32]. William-shakespeare.classic-literature.co.uk.</ref> of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]'', Bardolph is mugged: "so soon as I came beyond Eton, (cozeners) threw me off, from behind one of them, in a slough of mire". This could be a reference to Slough. In the same scene Cole-brooke ([[Colnbrook]]) is referenced along with [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] and [[Maidenhead]].
* 1872: [[Edward Lear]] made reference to Slough in ''[[More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc]]'':<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lear|first1=Edward|title=More Nonsense. Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, Etc.|url=https://archive.org/details/morenonsensepic00leargoog|date=1872|publisher=Robert J. Bush|location=London}}</ref>
::''There was an old person of Slough,''
::''Who danced at the end of a bough;''
::''But they said, 'If you sneeze,''
::''You might damage the trees,''
::''You imprudent old person of Slough.'''
* 1932: (but set in the 26th century) In [[Aldous Huxley]]'s ''[[Brave New World]]'', the chimneys of Slough Crematorium, around which [[Bernard Marx]] flies, are used to demonstrate the physio-chemical equality of all people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huxley.net/bnw/five.html|title= Brave New World Chapter 5|publisher=Huxley.net}}</ref> (Slough's actual crematorium, in the cemetery in Stoke Road, was opened in 1963,<ref name=sloughbmd>{{cite web|url=http://slough.gov.uk/births-marriage-deaths/burials-and-cremations.aspx|title=Burials & cremations|first=Slough Borough|last=Council|date=19 January 2012|website=slough.gov.uk}}</ref> coincidentally the year of Huxley's death. [[Princess Margaret]] was cremated there in 2002.)
* 1937: The poet [[John Betjeman]] wrote his poem ''[[Slough (poem)|Slough]]'' as a protest against the new town and 850 factories that had arisen in what had been formerly a rural area, which he considered an onslaught on the rural lifestyle:
::''Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough''
::''It isn't fit for humans now''
::''There isn't grass to graze a cow.''
::''Swarm over, death!''
:The poem was published two years before the outbreak of the Second World War, in which Britain (including Slough itself) experienced bombing from enemy air raids. On the centenary of his birth, his daughter said her father "regretted having ever written it", presenting the Mayor David MacIsaac with a book of his poems in which she had written: "We love Slough".<ref name="Poem Slough">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/5351512.stm Poetic justice at last for Slough]. BBC News (16 September 2006).</ref>
* 1979: Slough is mentioned by name in the hit single "[[The Eton Rifles]]" by [[the Jam]] from the album ''[[Setting Sons]]'': "There's a row going on down near Slough"
* 1991: Film ''[[Buddy's Song (film)|Buddy's Song]]'' with externals filmed mainly on the [[Britwell]] Estate and the Farnham Road (A355) released.
* 1996: The [[Tiger Lillies]]' album ''The Brothel to the Cemetery'' includes a track called "Slough", probably inspired by Betjeman's poem. The lyrics to the chorus are:
::''Drop a bomb on Slough, Drop a bomb on Slough''
::''Drop a bomb on Slough, Drop a bomb on Slough''
* 1998: The song "Costa del Slough" by the rock band [[Marillion]] posits the town as a post-[[global warming]] coastal resort, possibly in a reference to the comedian [[Spike Milligan]] having presented Slough on TV as a holiday resort.
* 2001: The [[BBC]] comedy series ''[[The Office (UK TV series)|The Office]]'' was set in the sales office of a paper company in Slough, presenting it as a depressing post-industrial wasteland. The character [[David Brent]] comments on Betjeman's poem in the series, which also appears on the inside sleeve of the video and DVD of Series 1. In the [[The Office (U.S. TV series)|US version]], the office is located on "Slough Avenue" in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]].
* 2004: Slough is mentioned on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] series ''[[Lost (2004 TV series)|Lost]]'' in the episode "[[Homecoming (Lost)|Homecoming]]" of Season 1. In a flashback of Charlie's life, a woman he knows says her father is away purchasing a paper company in Slough.
* 2009: In episode 8, Series 1 of ''[[The Legend of Dick and Dom]]'', a [[CBBC (TV channel)|CBBC]] show, the characters find themselves in modern-day Slough.
* 2010-2025: In the ''Slough House'' novels by [[Mick Herron]] and the adapted Apple+ TV series ''[[Slow Horses]]'', Slough House is the MI5 branch where washed-up spies are sent to finish their failed careers on desk duty. The name derives from the fact that, as Slough is distant from London, similarly Slough House is equally far away from the headquarters of MI5 in Regents Park for the disgraced spies hoping to revive their careers.
* 2015: [[Sky One]] comedy drama series ''[[You, Me and the Apocalypse]]'' is set in Slough where a nuclear bunker is located underneath the Slough Trading Estate. Aerial views are seen of Slough throughout the series.
* 2016: [[Ricky Gervais]], in his role as [[David Brent]], released the song ''Slough'' on his album ''Life on the Road,'' the soundtrack to the film by the same title. The chorus runs:
::''Oh oh oh Slough (echo: Slough)''
::''My kind of town''
::''I don't know how''
::''Anyone could put you down''